Butterfly Kisses
by Fuuga Kumi
Summary: Twenty characters, fifty words each; one thousand words total. Final Upload: Ansem the Wise. Thanks for the reviews and check out my bio for a special message!
1. Sora

Sora may laugh and crow that he was a hero of worlds, but inside he was still shaking at the thought of that responsibility. People praised him for the great job, and he smiled at them in response.

He knows he can't do it without the friends at his back.


	2. Riku

Foolish, cocky, stupid; these were all words people across worlds had used to describe him, once. Riku didn't argue, he knew how he had been. In the end those opinions weren't important. All he cared about was what a certain set of blue eyes saw when they finally met again.


	3. Kairi

Once, she had been a princess beloved by two knights. A time full of long stretches of hot sand; summer sun.

Once, she became the dividing force between the two. Watching helplessly as they tried to rip each other apart.

Once, she became a warrior who stood beside them both.


	4. Tifa

She knew she wasn t helpless. It was never a question of that; she could bring men to their knees without even trying, break down whole walls with a well placed punch. No, she knew for a fact that she was physically strong.

She just couldn't break Cloud s darkness for him.


	5. Cloud

He wasn't afraid of the dark, there was no reason to be. He was half submerged in the darkness himself. It was a curse he shouldered with bared teeth and a sharp sword.

It was the light, that place he could no longer comfortably call home, that he feared most.


	6. Leon

The logical part of him knew that, no matter how he sliced it, he couldn't claim sole responsibility for the fall of Hollow Bastion. The other part of him, the one he tried to keep buried deep that answered to the name of Squall disagreed and Guilt became his surname.


	7. Yuffie

She was young when their home was overrun with the heartless. She couldn t recall her father's face, the way her mother laughed; didn't know if they all sat down for dinner, if they really loved her. Family, for Yuffie, was the three people that had saved her life that day.


	8. Cid

He liked to let the kids ( That s right, fuckin _kids_. Got a problem with that? ) think that he only dealt with them on a necessary basis. He knew this would make them stronger in the long run, when things went bad.

He wouldn t tell them that he needed them too.


	9. Aerith

They were home, in the technical sense, with familiar structures and places. She knew their home was incomplete, with friends still missing. Cloud had Tasks to take care of, Tifa wouldn t settle without him. She knew all this.

So she prayed for the day when she could say welcome home.


	10. Donald

He was the king's advisor, his right hand man. Donald helped keep the kingdom orderly, with everything in its place, a place for everything. He was more unsettled than he'd let anyone know that Mickey left the way he did, in the middle of the night, without consulting him first.


	11. Goofy

Goofy knew he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box, lot of things went over his head, sometimes he felt useless.

But the king needed him, so he went out to fight for his friend and ruler.

Sora needs him too, so he fought for a boy like his son.


	12. Mickey

Once he had been a carefree spirit, with only the river he sailed on as his master. Time passed and responsibility came knocking. Now he was a king, with so many people looking to him for answers that he wanted to pull his ears off.

Thank heavens he had Minnie.


	13. Minnie

Love found her in the form of a bumbling mouse that made her laugh until her sides ache. She didn't even pause to consider what she was accepting when she agreed to marry him. He was the best everything; king, husband, friend.

She ached for him so sorely every day.


	14. Roxas

It was his idea to start eating sea-salt ice-cream, his idea to go to the top of the clock tower and watch the sunsets. When he's up there, he feels a tug of familiarity; and in the corner of his eye catches flashes of red. We're best friends, right?

Right.


	15. Axel

It drives Axel crazy that Roxas is the closest to being whole out of all of them and the boy doesn't even care. Axel still has the memories of being Someone, rash decisions and drumming heartbeat keeping count of his life.

He remembers this best when he looks at Roxas.


	16. Namine

Namine dreams of ocean blue and sea glass green, of people she can call friends who make her heart flutter with adoration. She presses her hand against her chest, breaths in deep, and only feels the hollow rasp of air passing through lungs.

She doesn't allow herself to dream anymore.


	17. Larxene

Bitch, they sneer, and she smiles her sweetest smile in response. They're just angry because she plays the game better than them; blows a kiss and giggles when they has the decency to look appalled.

She knows even in a Nobody world; a girl has to be fierce to survive.


	18. Xemnas

Xemnas' memory stretched far, far back; a time before he became Ansem, when he was still just an apprentice. Just a beatingbleeding heart. Sometimes, the nobody flashes to back then, standing over beakers, pouring over notes; smiling at the man that taught him everything.

The man he took everything from.


	19. Maleficent

The world has fallen into chaos, children believing they know what's best . It simply won't do; there must be order. She'll play the part of peacekeeper, it's a role she's confident was made for her.

Yes, she decides, she will submerge the world in darkness and bring about peace.


	20. Ansem the Wise

Once upon a time, he had fooled himself into believing his research was for the good of his people. The ugly truth rested in a laboratory with manic notes scattered everywhere, diagrams depicting hearts pinned to corkboards; _what is the true essence of the heart_?

Ansem the Wise indeed; fool.


End file.
